Aztecs: Arrival of Cortes and the Conquistadors 

Kings and Generals please make video for Asia Pacific jungle people wars😎😳😳😊😊 thanks 😉😉

Thank you so much for these series, you guys are one of the best and most informed historie people that have a channel of them all.

A good " unkown" topic your channel can speak about its "Arauco War". Spanish empire a gainst mapuche warlords. A 300 years war that ended after the spanish empire fall and was ended by Chilean Goverment more that 60 years after its independence

Wait you're doing another version of the siege of Tenochtitlan!? or is it La Noche Triste that you're going to feature?

Porque no los dos? :D

And still people today thinks 300 Spaniards killed 120 millons of people in Americas. The one that conquered south America and Philippines were from Mexico

made possible by the spanish

Spain is practically the only empire of all that is judge with the morals of today, everyone ignore that when talks about Napoleon, Rome, mongols, Alexander, and other empires.

@@zamirroa pretty much, but that's because their depredations feel very close to the heart of many today. Nobody nowadays will mourn the destruction of Carthage or the millions suffering under the yolk of the Khans.

@@samuelperezgarcia they shouldn't since the khans destroyed Baghdad

Another great video my friend! My Grandma is Cuban but I never knew Cortés left from there, always kind of assumed he left directly from Spain, but Cuba makes so much more sense haha Do you know how locals feel about La Malinche now? Since she was so sympathetic to Cortés.

That's really cool, Cuba played a huge role in the expeditions in Mexico and Central America. La Malinche is, to put it lightly, a controversial figure. Some see her as a traitor that sided with invaders over her people. Others see her as a victim, used by Cortés possibly against her will and some others see her as one of the first "Mexicans" a combination of Spain and native culture and mother to some of the first mestizo children. How you see her usually depends on how you view the conquest. She is a fascinating figure nonetheless.

@@CogitoEdu Yes, I guess, by that time, the Spanish were definitely settled in Cuba? I see why she would be so controversial. Fascinating person nevertheless - I will read more on her. Edit: excessive use of definitely.

Yeap Cuba at this point was firmly under Spanish control. Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, the same governor that recalled Cortés took part in the conquest of Cuba.

One of my favorite things of the conquest is that the move that Cortes does to legalize his conquest by having his men appoint him, is the same move that Diego Velazquez used to become Governor of Cuba in the first place.

Yeah, I would watch that.

There’s one being made with Javier Bardem as Cortés

well this is real history and culture worldwide.. and HBO is pure entertainment worldwide, when all you want is money (HBO) the worst thing to do is trying to throw mental nourishment on HBO

With all white actors like in the old cowboy and Indian shoot’em Up flicks.

History channel. Vikings is a badass show

Yea but people try to play off the diseases that played a major role aswell

In the early stage of Iberian colonisation, the various Iberian kingdoms at the time only became Spain several decades later, the overwhelming majority of warriors that defeated the Aztecs were other indigenous enemies with the assistance of deaths caused by introduced diseases, not Europeans according to European accounts. So in essence these battles resembled civil wars more than anything else. Iberians were at no stage defeating the Aztecs by themselves with indigenous enemies conveniently joining them later. There are European accounts that confirm that Iberians were almost annihilated by enemies of the Aztecs in battles. But the indigenous leaders of these ethnic groups reconsidered their position and decided to spare the foreigners lives and become allies instead to topple the Aztecs. In a later battle that involved Iberians along with native allies against the Aztecs, Iberians were also again almost annihilated but were helped to escape by their indigenous allies who provided Iberians with shelter, food and protection while they recovered from the loss of soldiers, physical injuries and equipment, which took many months. The sheer number of indigenous Americans in what is now known as Latin America, compared to North America where the native population was sparse, meant that Iberians from the outset had no alternative but to rely heavily on forging alliances with indigenous enemies of the ruling native empires at the time. The decision to make indigenous allies was not out of benevolence but out of necessity as they were seriously outnumbered from the outset and could not have toppled the ruling native empires without assistance. After the fall of the Aztecs Old World diseases then wiped out a large portion of the native population rather than warfare due to a lack of immunity to these introduced diseases, including indigenous allies. In the first decades of colonisation European colonies were established mainly in the areas where the toppled indigenous empires were based which comprised only a sliver of Latin America. In the 1500s and 1600s the vast majority of Latin America and native populations that inhabited the regions outside the established European colonies, were not under European rule. However Westernised mestizos (people of mixed ancestry) fared better against the pandemics than those of purely indigenous ancestry who succumbed to these diseases in greater numbers. Over time mestizos, who along with the indigenous population outnumbered those of mainly European ancestry since early on in the colonisation period, thrived at the expense of the indigenous population and gradually gained the ascendancy and assimilated the remaining native populations spread across Latin America in a process that lasted centuries. It was only until the 1800s that most Latin America was under the rule of the European colonies, colonies that by that stage were mostly made up of mestizos of varying admixture and indigenous people.

@@jr3753 In the early stage of Iberian colonisation, the various Iberian kingdoms at the time only became Spain several decades later, the overwhelming majority of warriors that defeated the Aztecs were other indigenous enemies with the assistance of deaths caused by introduced diseases, not Europeans according to European accounts. So in essence these battles resembled civil wars more than anything else. Iberians were at no stage defeating the Aztecs by themselves with indigenous enemies conveniently joining them later. There are European accounts that confirm that Iberians were almost annihilated by enemies of the Aztecs in battles. But the indigenous leaders of these ethnic groups reconsidered their position and decided to spare the foreigners lives and become allies instead to topple the Aztecs. In a later battle that involved Iberians along with native allies against the Aztecs, Iberians were also again almost annihilated but were helped to escape by their indigenous allies who provided Iberians with shelter, food and protection while they recovered from the loss of soldiers, physical injuries and equipment, which took many months. The sheer number of indigenous Americans in what is now known as Latin America, compared to North America where the native population was sparse, meant that Iberians from the outset had no alternative but to rely heavily on forging alliances with indigenous enemies of the ruling native empires at the time. The decision to make indigenous allies was not out of benevolence but out of necessity as they were seriously outnumbered from the outset and could not have toppled the ruling native empires without assistance. After the fall of the Aztecs Old World diseases then wiped out a large portion of the native population rather than warfare due to a lack of immunity to these introduced diseases, including indigenous allies. In the first decades of colonisation European colonies were established mainly in the areas where the toppled indigenous empires were based which comprised only a sliver of Latin America. In the 1500s and 1600s the vast majority of Latin America and native populations that inhabited the regions outside the established European colonies, were not under European rule. However Westernised mestizos (people of mixed ancestry) fared better against the pandemics than those of purely indigenous ancestry who succumbed to these diseases in greater numbers. Over time mestizos, who along with the indigenous population outnumbered those of mainly European ancestry since early on in the colonisation period, thrived at the expense of the indigenous population and gradually gained the ascendancy and assimilated the remaining native populations spread across Latin America in a process that lasted centuries. It was only until the 1800s that most Latin America was under the rule of the European colonies, colonies that by that stage were mostly made up of mestizos of varying admixture and indigenous people.

hardly unmatched in history. the Portuguese empire did the same down in Brazil. always at a huge numerical disadvantage yet still managed to carve out a massive piece of real estate in South America fighting not only Native Americans, but also other European colonial powers, namely the French & Dutch

It was only a Cortés achievement, also they had a couple of cannons, but as it has been said a million times 99% of the army was tlaxcalans and other natives. There's a saying that goes "The conquest was made by the natives, Independence was made by the Spanish." And it's true...

Spain's little brother Portugal at least got some in during WW1, but slept during the Italian Wars.

Portugal was taking advantage of the fact that basically all of Europe was at war with each other, while they stayed out of it to instead conquer far away foreign lands and get a step up on the rest.

Spain sent the Blue Division to fight with the Nazis in Russia.

The Blue Division was not sent by the government of Spain, it was a group of volunteers who were permitted to join NAZI Germany in their war. It was similar to the Lincoln Battalion, which was a group of volunteers from the U.S. to fight in the Spanish Civil War, but the U.S. itself stayed out of it.

World was lucky of Spain sleeping during both world wars, otherwise we all would be speaking Spanish right now.

Lucas Dimoveo I like that term, “pulling a Caesar”

I think it would be interesting to know if Cortez, had read Caesar's Comentarii and remembered them when he was in Mexico.

Nope. Tlaxcala made up 99% of the forces. There were only 400 Spaniards and Tlaxcala slaughtered 40% of his men on firs contact. The Aztecs slaughtered 60% of his remaining 400 on Night of Victory. Xicocatl >Cortez. If anything CUATHEMOC pulled a Ceasar (battle of Alesia) and Sun Tzu on Tlaxcala and the Spanish-Arab-Moors-Andalusians when he surrounded them and then starved them out but granted them an exit on purpose.... during the NIGHT OF VICTORY. Ceasar surrounded Vercingetroix and built a fort within a fort in Alesia and starved them out. Cuathemoc did the same.

Caligvla Caesar Hitler was an idiot

and each dead Spaniard brought down with him 100 dead native. The Spanish would've failed if they weren't so powerful in the first place. And Tlaxcala would've been the dominant power after the defeat of Aztec instead of Spain if Spaniards were killed so easily.

Misinterpretation or an excuse to kill everyone

While a factor for much even if they could understand the Spanish already made their mind up

@@hunterq4202 realmente lo que Cortés quería era que el imperio Mexica fuera vasallo de España, pero la viruela exterminó al 90 porciento de los supervivientes de la guerra, lo que hizo que el sistema político del imperio Mexica se colapsara por completo.

ich bin ein berliner

That's wasn't the purpose of the war Aztecs were idol worshippers

Thanks!

@@KingsandGenerals Great video and channel. Have you done the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and the Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1741)?

@@lauramartin-bk9nr yep, both are on the channel

@@KingsandGenerals Thank you!

Unfortunately there are still many misrepresentations here.

Keith Shuler Montezuma’s brother knew what was going down

Haha so we should keep our wifes out then

@@deumevet definitely LoL

Israel is doing this to Palestinians

Advice that is still applicable today, I would say.

Amazon Prime Video has a series in the works called “Cortes” and Hernán Cortés will be played by Javier Bardem.

@@Homer-OJ-Simpson Amazon cancelled production due to Covid...

@@murphbrs42 NOOOO!!!!

@@murphbrs42 goddamit

Amazon prime already has a serie, and Cortes is not Javier Bardem but Oscar Jaenada (way better for the role if you ask me). It's also pretty accurate historically (overall)

@John Newman not genocide

Same with Francisco Pizarro

@Avery You are by blood, lol

@NOA so what are they? they're still the descendants of those native americans, more than they are the descendants of europeans lol

@@devvv4616 depends what country most Mexicans aren’t even more than half native

You can be a brave and horrible person at the same time. As well was you can be a coward but a good person too

@@spammergenerico5679 Cortez was many things, but a coward wasn't one of them.

@@artistaprimus7080 guys do you even read? I said he was the example of brave, when the hell did I said he was a coward???

@THE INVISIBLE WARRIOR when did I said he was a coward???

@@spammergenerico5679 so the conversation is Cortez. Why say a coward but good person?

The Aztec history is so understated

@@hou1381 soo sad how they were killed tho

@@tranium67 them and many others, conquest is ruthless

@UCQXjVCfdD6olsOuxz3gnLHw yeah the Aztecs were oppressors.

@@CD-BVL Tell that to Julius Caesar , Genghis Khan or any other big conqueror in history.

Montezuma really disgraced his people by showing hospitality o such a rat

@@johangonzalez783 He was too gullible and that was his and his people undoing.

The Aztecs did not value gold, in fact a proverb about it was "a shiny piece of useless rock is still a useless piece of rock" they really did not have a use for it with the exception that it looked really neat, so they were willing to give the Spanish all the gold they had. To them killing for gold was meaningless and savage so the thought never crossed their mind.

Didn't other tribes hated their leader because they have to pay tribute in gold? they started war because of that i think.

@@arturorodriguez665 Well, Cortez didn't see it that way.

Fuck him

@@Jonathan-gz1cp 😂😂😂😂😂

@@Jonathan-gz1cp que se joda tu estirpe, perro. Él fue alguien, él pasó a la historia, y a ti no te conocen ni en tu casa.

@@Xela-j1p no speako

@@Xela-j1p a ti también te olvidarán chaval, cuál es tu punto?

Yep, we do!

I’m glad to see a fellow EU4 brother. This makes me want to play as the Aztecs and defend against the Cortes regime.

Pretty sure the animation of the rider moving across the screen when they mention bringing horses is also from EU4.

Spain being Yellow is just one of those things, like England/GB being red and France blue.

Yeee

Yeah, reminds of my childhood. :-)

I am glad someone else noticed too!

PRRROEH Shi... hoh! Mandaton?

But it's distracting me from the excellent content! :)

Nobody cares about the Aztec Inquisition!

haha. indeed.

What the romans did for us?

* nobody expects the Spanish sneeze

A man of culture I see

Thanks, we will!

Divine intervention

Luis Chavez - Why do people write that - “No one, literally no one”

Look at him in the wrong way: 'It's treason then.'

@@jakezywek6852 I mean why were you looking wrong at him you must be planning something

*Pulls out rapier *ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHH!!!!*

100%

Kings and Generals = Historical Facts Crash Course = Leftist Propaganda

Crash Course World History are more into general knowledge who we didnt know yet, compared to this channel which into detailed one.

I used to watch Crash Course till i realized how blatantly biased it is to the left. Kings and Generals doesn't seem to take a political perspective, they just show what is known to have happened without sliding in their own narrative the way Crash Course clearly does.

@@joekarim2471 i still watch CC especially in science history and it still ok to me. I didnt watching history just in that one channel so its lays new perspective.

Her own mother and stepfather sold her into slavery at age 13. I wonder what loyalty she owed anyone.

Yeah, the best movie line ever, maybe.

how?

@@mattie286 Google his name and alongside it, "Burn the ships".

Indeed, God bless Cristobal de Olea, the man who gave his life for Cortes in the battle of Tenochtitlan

​@@mattie286 I've read the book about the conquest and you should too, they were heroes. Nothing like the media potrays it to be.

who said otherwise?

@@eztli Nobody, it's just in case someone confused them.

Since cameras didn't exist, Cortez brought a painter to catch the war on canvas

@@lilahdog568 That's not what he meant, there's another Spanish man named Diego Velazquez who is a painter.

Thanks for watching!

Agree

It eventually fails the Romans too, or atleast become one of the reasons for the fall of Western Rome. Also yea weirdly people like to act like there lesser people for human sacrifices, yet its not unique to Mesoamerica. Romans saw Celts in the British Isles do shit like that and it freaked them the fuck out. I'm only mentioning it because i've actually seen someone correlate this savage behavior with why Mexico has brutal cartels lmao.

@@TheBucketSkill Really? Damm some people are just really dumb. Comparing that makes 0 sense.

I wouldn't call them the romans of the New World, more like the Mesopotamians, Egyptians or maybe Chinese of the new world. Please remember that Rome wasn't the only empire that ever existed in antiquity.

@@asdfomfglol yeah, but that wouldn't be a so good comparation either because before them came other civilazations in america so they where far from being the first. I guess its hard to compare. But anyway the Aztec empire wasn't (in structural way) similar to the roman empire. The best equivalent in america to how the roman empire worked, would be the Inca

We, too, apparently :-)

And the Metal Gear sounds too! :D

They cover those battle which have significant important in future

Sifu A. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent died shortly after this battle

Yeah, it is on the list.

Horvat Lovren yeah bro ,its our time for Nikola Šubić Zrinski

There was a case of 30 000 moldavians vs 100000 otomans but 3000 vs 100000 is too much

They were inbred I believe

No. Thanks to rape, genocide, and thievery.

Rich, definitely but not so sure about being the most powerful since the independence movements were completed fairly swiftly which suggest the hold on these territories were always tenuous. Diseases that wiped out a large portion of the native population had a bigger impact on the events that took place than any leadership qualities from people far removed from them.

Los Reyes Catolicos.

Didn't the spanish conquistadors first land in the the yucatan peninsula? I'm probably wrong. Edit: Veracruz was pretty important in spanish history though.

@@jmaster1495 Yes bt they didnt start the conquest from the south. Near yucatan a spanish ship wrecked years before Cortez, once they reached the caribbean, cortez heard of this and went into yucatan to search for this community and find translators, which he did, found people that spoke spanish, yucatec mayan and nahuatl.

@@ericktellez7632 ah okay thanks for the clarification!

Diseases wiped out more of the native population than warfare.

Thank you!

Shame how the used them to torture and execute natives.

@@greatdude7279 okay R/iamverysmart lol. Im actually saying that the visual site of seeing the city for the first time must have been amazing. In Diaz's journal he remarks about how every roof top sparkled with gold and silver etc. It's an amazing read tbh

This was a proven myth debunked, Moctezuma saw a comet but it was a claim made after the invasion, those who actually took part of it had no recollection of that.

Wrong. That the Aztecs augured a calamitous end to their civilization -the particulars of which coincided greatly with the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the Castilians- is founded upon several pre- & post- columbian codexes (e.g. Borbonicus, Xólotl) and the readings of such materials by native historians (e.g. Cristóbal del Castillo, Diego Muñoz Camargo, Alva Ixtlilxóchitl) of the conquista period. The attempt to revision Moctezuma's view on early sightings of Antillean explorers and eventually Cortes' party is an ill-intended "exorcising" of messianic interpretation by Spanish chroniclers from the history field. An unnecessary endeavour to begin with, as these views were never held in high regard after Hispanic American emancipation.

They didn't see them as gods, but definitely as ancestors or supernatural, because even Moctezuma referred to Cortés and himself as "we are both men"

It’s been debunked as a self serving myth concocted years after the event.

We should see this story as one of the most incredible, of men like us, who were neither saints nor villains, the enterprises of men are not those of the gods, they are full of passions, arts, hatreds, virtues, blood, and sex. Any of us exposed to the most extreme situations would be totally different. I imagine myself with a rifle in some war and depending on the day I would be a hero or a demon! This is the realm of Earth. Here we walk between knowledge and ignorance of good. Whoever is freaked out should go to the realm of Air with the university communists and their fucking mother. Dont talk about "spaniards or mexicas" talk about individuals, protagonists like Marina(la malinche), Cortés and his generals and wives, who make the history of mankind, something impressive, full of threads and turning points.

im mexican and i have light blue eyes pink skin and brown hair and i have family members with blonde and red hair too

So not 100% mexican

Hello from Galicia

@Luiz Sá .. you mean pop who pédophilie with children.

@Luiz Sá yeah instead had live human sacrifices

@Luiz Sá they did that after the conquistadors came. Till then they would sacrifice their own.

@Luiz Sá lol native Americans were already killing each other by the time they reached there

@Luiz Sá the colonization of America was a good turnout.

That is just a legend. Historical evidence has shown Xicotencatl knew very well the spanish where just another group of warriors who came to claim land just like they knew from the aztecs

Apocalypto is actually an extremely innacurate movie when it comes to history and should not be used for education

Sabaton

@@Goblinsharkhundredsofthem yes

@@thaneofwhiterun3562 Apocalypto is just for entertainment and Mel Gibson is an idiot.

There is a lot of series

@@forsaaken420 Mexico didnt exist you diot

EverlastGX no, but they occupied what is now modern day Mexico idiot. And they also got the name of Mexico from the Aztecs, idiot. They called themselves Mexica. (Meshica)

be proud of both sides of your blood, that's what every Latin American school should teach, you have ancestry of warriors from both sides

@@forsaaken420 but you see, I'm not fully native, in fact I have more spanish, so they weren't really "my people" but neither are the Spanish

@@forsaaken420 It could have been worst, they could have ended dead like with the english...

Yeah right ''epic''.Just robbery,crimes against humans,genocide,not to be proud of.If some alien more advanced come to earth and do the same.We are savages,not them the locals.

@@cristeaadrian7419 Just like any military event in history, yet you have thousands of them portrayed in an epic way. In this case there're alliance, trason.... it would definitely make an epic series. Have you not watched game of thrones or what?

@@cristeaadrian7419 genocide? Lol

@@cristeaadrian7419 like caesar, genghis khan, the aztecs themselves to the other native American

Thanks! More on the way!

just a bad copy of Tariq Ibn Ziyad when he conquered Spain and turned it to Al-Andalus

@@themayhemera3046 He didn't conquer Spain because Spain didn't exist, what you had there were the "Reinos Godos", later after the Reconquista is when it became Spain.

@@nikiardo he conquered TF out of what is today known as Spain and BETTER known as Al-Andalus

Didn't happend like that.

He's a f**** murder and it's sick that he's being honored

That's an anachronism though. It's not like they had anyway of knowing just how much danger Cortez was to them. How could they? The Aztecs first referred to horses as deer. They referred to the Spanish ships as moving mountains. Throwing the Spanish back into the sea implies the Aztecs would know this was necessary before they had any concept of how dangerous the Spanish actually were to them.

@@walsh9080 your right in a way, but seeing as Cortez was an unknown variable and was dealing with people the Aztecs knew did not care for their rule you have nothing to lose by striking first

And despite popular opinion then as now they knew the Spaniards were not gods so better to hit them first and prove it in my opinion

@@walsh9080 if a alien race came here now knowing how our own species were treated, we would study them, kill them and learn as much as we can of their technology, we have to, k how what it is to be our enemy before we're friends, our survival depends on it

Lol, they rode huge animals, ride in giant ships and have weapons that can destroy walls and kill at a distance of I was Aztec they'd sound like a threat to me :)

;-)

Thanks! We will, it is on the list!

vikings would strike and get whatever they could find and leave, the Spanish were full on in settling and spreading catholicism in all of America

@@kyomademon453 Yeah tell that to the english

@Association of Free People you are quite dense aint you, Normandy was born out of a weak french king who in his cowardice gave the northern coast a couple of vikings as an exchange for them defending the frankish coasts of more raiders, the normans who conquered england had norse blood but were all romaniced and spoke french

they conquered but they also ended a lot of human sacrifice which was rampant, which is why some tribes converted easily before they got to mexica, they would establish a spanish garrison in that conquered town protecting it from raiders of human sacrifice

@@kyomademon453 The vikings conquered nearly all of England in the 9th century... Ever heard of the Danelaw?

i read that book as well. this is a nice video but ignores some salient points

That is a fantastic book!

danyalillo lol, irony

Genetic tests done on Plague victims from the 1500's in Mexico show that they died of Native diseases.

Thank you very much, good sir!

Ahem...thegreatwar channel. Still, I do appreciate y'all work here.

The animations are so vibrant too. This channel is inspiring to me as a 25 yo out of work history/anthropology major. Thinking about starting my own channel but every time I mention it to someone they never seem to have much confidence in my ability to do so despite finishing my education with honours.

DRL CA, we believe in you. Send us an e-mail if you need any pointers. info@kingsandgenerals.net

Is this really accurate? It doesn't match with Bernal Diaz's account?

Not funny

Just say you like your scrambled eggs plain.

Sneeze on them

@@drewfoster2375 A simple tactic, but quite effective.

Thank you very much!

The Aztecs and the Spanish could communicate they had native translators.

Also you were entering a city that supposedly had 1 million people living their. No place in Europe existed at that time that could compare until the 19th century.

@@blackearl7891 Not one million people,more like two hundred thousand.

@@mikenagy9408 you're right I was wrong. Population range is from 200,000 to 300,000 which is still quite big for a city at that time.

@@glenncordova3365 Not when Cortés left. The best choice at communication were the Tlaxcalans and all they did was feed Spaniards' paranoia whispering int heir ears how cruel the mexicas were and how they shouldn't be trusted.

Plus they have a legendary love of alcohol and partying. Who doesn't love a people that values a good party? Although fun fact Tarascan is a loose translation of fishermen and was not a label they gave to themselves or ever called themselves.

They weren't a tribe they were a Civilization. If you Wana learn more about them you should go to Michoacan Mexico and ask the people their who are desendents of them

@@tlaloc27 All still Native Americans. Wether a Tribe, or “civilization”... or not.

@@walsh9080 Tarasco meant son in law. The people were called Purhepecha and the Spanish started marrying Purhepechan women and the men started calling the Spanish, Tarasco, which again means son in law. The Spanish thought the Purhepecha were called Tarasco since they heard them say it so much. And the Nahuatl translators were useless since the Purhepecha didn’t speak it.

Thanks! It is on the list and will happen down the line.

Kings and Generals I imagine your list must be very long by now with all those requests. In any case, keep up the good work!

We will, thanks!

gross.

@@bm.6349 if you think it's gross. You're not a true Mexican neither a Spaniard!

@@bm.6349 Your ancestor got beaten, that’s the reason why you’re mad. You cannot accept the fact that’s someone is superior than you

Agree

@@eliasbairamis6069 He ain’t no hero. He couldn’t even fight his own war. Inin totlalhui ihuan tinemizqueh nochipa. This is our land and we will live forever.

actually it is more history of Mexico, the Spaniards know little about this

Fukumean

Arriba España

@Wet Mustard---Yep that's what I meant by Bold One.

In the early stage of Iberian colonisation, the various Iberian kingdoms at the time only became Spain several decades later, the overwhelming majority of warriors that defeated the Aztecs were other indigenous enemies with the assistance of deaths caused by introduced diseases, not Europeans according to European accounts. So in essence these battles resembled civil wars more than anything else. Iberians were at no stage defeating the Aztecs by themselves with indigenous enemies conveniently joining them later. There are European accounts that confirm that Iberians were almost annihilated by enemies of the Aztecs in battles. But the indigenous leaders of these ethnic groups reconsidered their position and decided to spare the foreigners lives and become allies instead to topple the Aztecs. In a later battle that involved Iberians along with native allies against the Aztecs, Iberians were also again almost annihilated but were helped to escape by their indigenous allies who provided Iberians with shelter, food and protection while they recovered from the loss of soldiers, physical injuries and equipment, which took many months. The sheer number of indigenous Americans in what is now known as Latin America, compared to North America where the native population was sparse, meant that Iberians from the outset had no alternative but to rely heavily on forging alliances with indigenous enemies of the ruling native empires at the time. The decision to make indigenous allies was not out of benevolence but out of necessity as they were seriously outnumbered from the outset and could not have toppled the ruling native empires without assistance. After the fall of the Aztecs Old World diseases then wiped out a large portion of the native population rather than warfare due to a lack of immunity to these introduced diseases, including indigenous allies. In the first decades of colonisation European colonies were established mainly in the areas where the toppled indigenous empires were based which comprised only a sliver of Latin America. In the 1500s and 1600s the vast majority of Latin America and native populations that inhabited the regions outside the established European colonies, were not under European rule. However Westernised mestizos (people of mixed ancestry) fared better against the pandemics than those of purely indigenous ancestry who succumbed to these diseases in greater numbers. Over time mestizos, who along with the indigenous population outnumbered those of mainly European ancestry since early on in the colonisation period, thrived at the expense of the indigenous population and gradually gained the ascendancy and assimilated the remaining native populations spread across Latin America in a process that lasted centuries. It was only until the 1800s that most Latin America was under the rule of the European colonies, colonies that by that stage were mostly made up of mestizos of varying admixture and indigenous people.

@@Paul-kr4hw no need to copy and paste. Cortez only had about 60 Spanish soldiers and yes he assembled the various indigenous tribes who were being controlled and slaughtered by the Aztecs to kill and terminate the Aztecs. At the end of the day he had only about 60 conquistadors that part is still true. What he was able to do was remarkable.

@@sonsoftheedelweiss72 What took place in the 1500s were not conventional wars of any sort, certainly not wars that resembled those fought in Europe, Africa and Asia where both sides in a conflict were not losing warriors to outside factors not relevant to the fighting, but more akin to accidental biological genocides so calling anyone involved in these battles ‘conquerors’ is erroneous. Old World diseases wiped out a large portion of the native population rather than warfare due to a lack of immunity to these introduced diseases, including indigenous allies. There are accounts of Europeans setting foot in certain areas for the first time where already a large portion of the native population had perished to diseases.